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Maroona

Maroona is a rural village 20 km south of Ararat at the junction of railway lines that run south-west to Hamilton and south-east to Geelong. (The lines converge at Maroona and a line proceeds to Ararat, where it meets the Melbourne-Adelaide line).

Maroona was the name of an early pastoral property, and it is thought that the name was derived from an Aboriginal word describing pine-like trees. The village is situated on the Hopkins River, which runs through undulating flood-prone country to the east. There is hilly country west of Maroona, from which several streams flow into the Hopkins.

In 1877 the railway line through Maroona to Hamilton was opened, and a school was also opened that year. In 1903 the Australian handbook described Maroona:

To the south of Maroona are Victoria’s extensive Western Plains, and in 1905 local railway leagues persuaded the State government to consider constructing a railway line to carry pastoral and agricultural produce to the Geelong port. The line was constructed in 1913 from Maroona, through Cressy, to Gheringhap near Geelong. It carried passengers until 1952.

Maroona has a hotel, general store, a post office and a sports pavilion which was improved in preference to rebuilding the hall which burnt down in 1974. The grain handling facility at the station has been closed.

In 2014 the school had 29 pupils, partly because of the closure of two small schools nearby in 1992-93. Maroona’s census populations have been: